Catcher tire abutment device for restraining road vehicle on a transport vehicle

ABSTRACT

A catcher tire abutment device is described for restraining road vehicles transported on a support surface of a transport vehicle. Primary wheel restraining devices are secured to the support surface on outward sides of pairs of wheels of each road vehicle adjacent the thread surface of the wheels. A catcher tire abutment device is also secured to the support surface an approximate predetermined distance spaced adjacent the thread face on inward sides of front and rear pairs of wheels of the vehicle. When the road vehicles are subjected to an impact force, from either a front or rear direction, kinetic energy from the impacted vehicle is absorbed and dissipated softly in a sequential manner by (a) contact of the tires of one of the front and rear pairs of wheels against an arresting surface of the primary wheel restraining devices and (b) by the tires of the other pair of wheels contacting the arresting surface of the catcher tire abutment devices.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10/842,531,filed May 11, 2004.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a catcher tire abutment device forrestraining a road vehicle on a vehicle support surface of a transportvehicle and maintaining the transported road vehicle in a transportlocation when subjected to an impact force from either a front or reardirection.

BACKGROUND ART

Reference is made to my earlier U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,302,063 and 5,312,213which relate to a wheel chuck which is securable to a grating, of atransport vehicle to prevent axial displacement and lateral shiftingmotion of a road vehicle being transported. With these wheel chucks itis pointed out that it is not necessary to strap any wheel or tie downthe vehicle by the use of chains connected to steel runners in thesupport surface, such as the floor of a railway flatbed vehicle. Withmany prior art devices, tools are required in order to secure thesechains or straps to restrain the transported vehicle. The wheel chuckingsystem as described in my above-referenced, patents can be installedvery rapidly onto a grating floor of transport vehicles. However, if thetransport vehicle, such as a railway flatbed vehicle, is subjected to anabrupt stop or starts abruptly or is impacted by other flatbeds duringinterconnection, the transported road vehicles are subjected to animpact force from either a front or a rear direction. Because the roadvehicles are not tied down it is possible that if this impact force islarge enough the vehicle could be dislodged from its transport locationbetween the chucks by jumping over a pair of these chucks facing thedirection of impact.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

It is a feature of the present invention to provide a method and asystem for restraining a road vehicle on a vehicle support surface of atransport vehicle by using primary wheel restraining devices i.e. thechucks of my above-referenced patents, and securing a catcher tireabutment device on an inward side of each tire of the front and rearpair of wheels of the road vehicle and spaced from its thread face.

Another feature of the present invention is to provide a catcher tireabutment device for use in combination with my aforementioned chucksystem and wherein the catcher tire abutment device is secured to theflooring without the use of tools.

A further feature of the present invention is to provide a catcher tireabutment device as above-mentioned and which is lightweight, economicalto produce and easy to install and remove from a flooring surfacewithout the use of tools.

According to a broad aspect of the present invention there is provided acatcher tire abutment device for use in a system for restraining roadvehicles on a vehicle support surface of a transport vehicle. Thecatcher tire abutment device has a flat bottom wall and a rearwardly andupwardly extending arresting front surface. Securement arresting meansproject from the flat bottom wall and is adapted for release engagementwith a vehicle support surface. A clamping means is spaced rearwardly ofthe flat bottom wall for engagement with the vehicle support surface.Means is also provided to engage and disengage the clamping means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a front and rear wheel of a pair ofwheels of a road vehicle being restrained on a vehicle support surfaceof a transport vehicle by primary wheel restraining devices and catchertire abutment devices, the latter constructed in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the catcher tire abutment device ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of the catcher abutment device ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4A is a side view showing the catcher tire abutment device of thepresent invention engaged in a metal grating Support surface of atransport vehicle;

FIG. 4B is a fragmented side section view showing the construction ofthe clamping teeth;

FIG. 5A is a side view showing a road vehicle restrained on a vehiclesupport surface of a transport vehicle by the method and system of thepresent invention using four primary wheel restraining devices and fourcatcher tire abutment devices;

FIG. 5B is a view similar to FIG. 5A but showing how the vehicle isrestrained by the method and system of the present invention when thevehicle is subjected to an impact force;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged section view showing the contact of a tire againstan arresting surface of a primary wheel restraining device at impactwith the wheel having moved upward on the arresting surface.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1 there isshown the front wheel 10 and rear wheel 11 of a front and rear pair orwheels of a road vehicle being transported on a support surface 12 of atransport vehicle. The support surface 12 is hereinshown as a grating 13formed of transversely welded steel rods, herein transverse rods 13′extending transverse to the longitudinal axis 14 of the road vehicle andaxial rods 13″ extending in the direction of the longitudinal axis 14.Although only one of the front wheels 10 and rear wheels 11 arehereinshown it is to be understood that there are two of these wheels 10connected to a front axle 15 and two wheels 11 connected to the rearaxle 16 but for simplicity of illustration of the system as hereindescribed only one wheel of the front pair of wheels 10 and one of therear pair of wheels 11 is shown. It is also pointed out that thetransport vehicle could be a railway vehicle or a tractor trailer typehighway vehicle or any other transport vehicle capable of using thesystem and method of the present invention. Further, when road vehiclesare transported their transmission is usually placed in “park” or in aselected gear engagement. This keeps the vehicles more stable duringtransport.

The restraining system comprises, for each road vehicle beingtransported, four primary wheel restraining devices, herein the chucks17 which are constructed in accordance with my previously referred toU.S. Pat. No. 5,302,063 and these comprise an arresting wall 18 whichhas an arresting outer surface 18′ for contact with a tire thread 19 ofthe tire 10′ of the wheel 10. As can be seen this arresting wall 18 isrearwardly inclined and extends upwardly from a lower front portion 20of the chuck. The chuck or primary wheel restraining device 17 has abottom wall 21 which is provided with securing means in the form of aplurality of teeth 22 (see FIG. 6) for engagement with the transverserods 13′ of the grating 13. These teeth constitute securing means forattaching the primary wheel restraining device 17 to the supportsurface. As hereinshown each chuck 17 is provided with a lateralrestraining paddle 23 which extends adjacent a respective one of theinner surface 24 of each tire 10′ whereby to prevent lateraldisplacement of the road vehicle during transport. There are four ofthese chucks 17 secured to the grating 13 and disposed with theirarresting surface 18′ positioned adjacent the thread face 19 on anoutward side of the pair of wheels thereby establishing a transportlocation of a road vehicle 25 on the support surface 12 between the fourprimary wheel restraining devices 17 as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B.

As also shown in FIG. 1 there are four catcher tire abutment devices 26which are also provided with an arresting surface 27 and securing meansfor attaching same to the vehicle support surface 12 and at anapproximate distance “d” adjacent the thread face 19 of a respective oneof the four tires 10′ but on an inward side of the pair of wheels.

Referring now more specifically to FIGS. 2 to 4B there will be describedthe construction of the catcher tire abutment device 26. As hereinshown,the device is a one piece device which is molded from structural plasticmaterial and it has a flat bottom wall 28 and a rearwardly and upwardlysloping front wall 29 which defines the outer arresting surface 27, asmore clearly shown in FIG. 3. A plurality of ribs 29′ interconnect thefront wall 29 and the bottom wall 28. Securement arresting means in theform of a plurality of rearwardly sloping teeth 30 extend rearwards ofthe bottom wall 28 for engagement in the grating 13. These teeth 30 arespaced apart in transverse equidistantly spaced rows 31 and are disposedfor projection in the openings 13″ defined between the axial rods 13″and transverse rods 13′ as shown in FIG. 4A. These teeth 30 engage withthe transverse rods 13′ and the teeth are inclined whereby when thearresting front face 27 is contacted by a load in the directionindicated by arrow 32 in FIG. 4A they will transmit the load into thetransverse rods 13′ of the grating 13 under the entire surface of thebottom. As also clearly illustrated in FIG. 4A, adjacent rows 31 of theteeth 30 define therebetween rearwardly inclined slots 33 whichterminate in an arcuately shaped base 34 above the flat bottom wall 28and these slots are dimensioned for close fit about an outer peripheralportion of the transverse rods 13′ of the grating which are engaged bythe teeth.

The catcher tire abutment device 26 is further provided with clampingmeans in the form of grating engagement means provided by arrestingteeth 35 which depend from a lower surface 36 of a flexible tonguesection 37 which is an extension of the bottom wall 28 projectingrearwardly thereof. This tongue section 37 extends co-extensively withthe bottom wall and is provided with an elevated handle 38 formed at afree end 39 thereof and extending upwardly whereby to facilitategrasping by a user's hand to flex the end portion of the tongue sectionupwardly for engagement and disengagement from the grating. Ashereinshown the arresting teeth 35 slope towards the front wall 27 in adirection opposite to the clamping teeth 30. Therefore, in order topermit engagement of these arresting teeth 35 within the grating it isnecessary to firstly position the clamping teeth 30 in engagement withinthe grating and then by foot pressure or otherwise, the arresting teethare pressed within the openings of the grating by downward pressure. Thehandle 38 may also be at the same time lifted in the direction of arrow40 to articulate the teeth 35. When it is necessary to remove the tireabutment device 26 from engagement with the grating it is only necessaryto grasp the handle 38 and pull the handle in a forward and upwarddirection as illustrated by arrow 40 in FIG. 4A.

It is pointed out that once the clamping teeth 30 are in engagement withthe transverse rods 13′ the arresting teeth 35 only prevent the catchertire abutment device 26 from sliding out in a forward direction.Therefore, these arresting teeth 35 may be formed as downwardlyprojecting transversely extending teeth 41, as shown in FIG. 4B, anddisposed for frictional engagement within the openings 13″ with atransverse rod 13′ which is forwardly facing to the clamping teeth 30.

It is pointed out that the tongue section 37 need only flex veryslightly to permit engagement and disengagement of the arresting teeth35 or projections 41. It is also conceivable that this tongue sectioncould be molded as a wall which is thinner at least in a section thereofto facilitate flexion.

With reference now to FIGS. 5A to 6 there will be described the methodof operation of the system of the present invention. As previouslydescribed it consists of securing four primary wheel restraining devices17 in line with the thread face 19 on an outward side of the pair ofwheels 10 secured to the front and rear axles 15 and 16 of the vehicle25. These primary wheel restraining chucks 17 are secured to the grating13 slightly spaced from the tire thread surface as shown in FIG. 5A.Thereafter four catcher tire abutment devices 26 are likewise secured tothe grating 13, in the manner as previously described, but these arespaced an approximate predetermined distance “d” from the thread surface19 whereby to provide for the transported road vehicle 25 to dissipateits kinetic energy when subjected to an impact force from either fromthe front of the vehicle, in the direction of arrow 45, or from the backdirection, as shown by arrow 46. The absorption of this kinetic energyfrom any of these directions works in the same manner as each wheel isdisposed between an arresting surface of a primary wheel restrainingdevice 17 and a catcher tire abutment device 26.

Referring now to FIGS. 5B and 6, it can be seen that when the vehicle 25is displaced in a forward direction due to an impact of the transportvehicle in an opposed direction, the front wheels 10 secured to thefront axle 15 will be directed against the arresting surface 18′ of thefront wall 18 of the primary wheel restraining devices 17 securedadjacent the front pair of wheels. Upon contact of the arresting surface18′ the tire 11 will compress and deform such as shown at 48 in FIG. 6by displacing air within the tire and this will result in someabsorption of the kinetic energy of the vehicle. At the same time, thewheels of the front axle 15 will move upwardly on the arresting surface18′ due to the rearward slope of the front wall of the arresting surface18′, as shown in FIGS. 5B and 6, and this upward movement is dictated bythe distance “d” between the tires of the opposed wheels with thecatcher tire abutment device. This distance “d” is less than the lengthof the arresting surface 18′ of the primary wheel restraining device.The upward movement of the wheel and associated end of the transportedroad vehicle provides a downward restoring load “W”, as illustrated byarrow 47 caused by the weight of the vehicle whereby to assist the roadvehicle to return to its transport location as shown in FIG. 5A. It ispointed out that as the wheels 10 of the front axle 15 start movingupwardly the vehicle 25 moves forwardly causing its wheels 10 on therear axle 16 to move also forwardly to contact the sloped arrestingsurface 27 of the catcher tire abutment device 26 thereby arresting thevehicle and causing the load to pull the vehicle down and restore itselfbetween the slope surfaces of the primary wheel restraining devices 18adjacent the front wheels and the slope faces of the primary wheelrestraining devices adjacent the rear wheels. Because the vehicletransmission is usually in gear coupling, the vehicle will quicklystabilize in the transport location. The lateral restraining paddles 23prevent lateral displacement during this motion.

It is pointed out that this system of restraining the transportedvehicles when subjected to front or rear impact forces, provides for alonger time dissipation of the kinetic energy resulting in a softdissipation of the impact force. This sequential action provides alonger time delay for absorbing the energy and is calculated as the timelapse in the displacement of the front wheels to engage the arrestingsurface 18′, the time lapse in the deformation of the tire, the timelapse when the wheels move upwardly on the inclined face which isdictated by the time lapse of the rear wheels impacting on the inclinedface of the catcher tire abutment devices 26 and any deformation in thetires of the rear wheels. Thereafter, the vehicle may oscillate back andforth on the wheels between the outer wheel chuck restraining devices 18to finally stabilize therebetween.

It is within the ambit of the present invention to cover any obviousmodifications of the preferred embodiment of the present inventiondescribed herein, providing such modifications fall within the scope ofthe appended claims.

1. A catcher tire abutment device for use in a system for restrainingroad vehicles on a vehicle support surface of a transport vehicle, saidcatcher tire abutment device having a flat bottom wall, a rearwardly andupwardly extending arresting front surface, securement arresting meansprojecting from said flat bottom wall and adapted for release engagementwith a vehicle support surface, and clamping means spaced rearwardly ofsaid flat bottom wall for engagement with said vehicle support surface,and means to engage and disengage said clamping means.
 2. A catcher tireabutment device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said vehicle supportsurface is formed by spaced-apart transverse welded metal rods, saidsecurement arresting means is constituted by a plurality of rearwardlysloping teeth extending rearwards of said bottom wall for engagementwith said vehicle support surface.
 3. A catcher tire abutment device asclaimed in claim 2 wherein said teeth are spaced apart in transverseequidistantly spaced rows and disposed for projection in openings insaid support surface defined between said transversely welded metal rodsfor engagement with at least some transverse ones of said rods.
 4. Acatcher tire abutment device as claimed in claim 3 wherein said teeth inadjacent rows define therebetween rearwardly inclined slots terminatingin an arcuately shaped base above said flat bottom wall dimensioned forclose fit about a peripheral portion of said at least some of saidtransverse ones of said rods.
 5. A catcher tire abutment device asclaimed in claim 1 wherein said clamping means comprises gratingengagement means spaced from a rear lower edge of said bottom wall on adisplaceable section whereby to cause said grating engagement means toproject into some of said openings for engagement with some of saidtransverse rods after said teeth of said arresting means have beenengaged to prevent displacement of said catcher tire abutment device. 6.A catcher tire abutment device as claimed in claim 5 wherein saiddisplaceable section is a projecting tongue section extendingco-extensively with said bottom wall and formed of flexible materialcapable of restoring its shape.
 7. A catcher tire abutment device asclaimed in claim 6 wherein said means to engage and disengage saidclamping means is a handle formed at a free end of said projectingtongue section, said handle permitting said grating engagement means tobe engaged and disengaged with some of said transverse rods by pushingsaid projecting tongue section on said grating for engagement andpulling it away from said grating for disengagement.
 8. A catcher tireabutment device as claimed in claim 7 wherein said grating engagementmeans is constituted by forwardly sloping teeth for engagement with someof said transverse rods.
 9. A catcher tire abutment device as claimed inclaim 7 wherein said grating engagement means is constituted bydownwardly projecting transversely extending teeth dimensioned forfriction fit engagement in said rectangular openings of said grating.10. A catcher tire abutment device as claimed in claim 7 wherein saidcatcher tire abutment devices are molded from a structural plasticsmaterial, said tongue section being dimensioned to flex by pulling aforce on said handle which is molded integrally therewith.